In a short, timely and yet comprehensive note, IENE contributing editor Irina Slav sets out her position in no uncertain terms on the urgent need for European countries to develop their indigenous oil and gas resources. In an IENE Comment entitled “Time to Rethink Opposition to Oil, Gas Drilling” (here).
“The European Union’s dependence on energy imports has been flagged by both politicians and analysts as a significant vulnerability to geopolitical and market developments. This dependence is indeed a problem, which this year became particularly pressing amid the war in the Middle East and Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries”, notes Irina Slav.
She further argues that, “Both of these conflicts have caused a sharp spike in oil and gas prices, and this time, it’s not only on the futures markets. Physical supply of both crude and natural gas has been seriously compromised, and the EU has been affected more severely than other large energy importers due to the sanctions in Russian energy imports”.
In this context, alternatives are few and far between. For sure Europe cannot depend indefinitely on imports of USA LNG especially as the shale industry matures and there is growing global competition for this form of every. Nor can Europe rely on geopolitically unstable Middle East for oil and gas supply nor on banned Russian energy exports.
Another salient point is the talk about energy security, says Irina Slav, and how in EU newspeak this has come to mean only the intermittent renewables and costly batteries. The fact that oil and gas consumption in the EU remains strong as ever satisfying 70% of energy demand and hence the need for increased imports, seems to escape completely the attention of EU planners.
In this sense, concludes Irina Slav, “energy security starts at home, with hydrocarbons”.
